Footwear, particularly footwear for active use, is simplistically comprised of a sole and an upper. The upper includes an opening to receive a foot and a throat—an elongate opening that extends from the foot opening to a vamp. A tongue is typically located in the throat opening and a shoelace is laced through edges along the throat to provide a secure closure system.
Such footwear is donned onto a foot by loosening the laces, spreading apart the foot opening and the throat, holding the tongue out of the way and then inserting a foot through the opening into the footwear. The laces of the conventional closure system may then be tightened to secure the footwear onto the wearer's foot. While this is a typical part of daily life for many people, there remains a large population for which the donning and doffing of such footwear remains an exasperating challenge.
One such population for which the donning and doffing of conventional footwear remains a challenge is for children. Children can be reluctant to remain still or cooperate while a parent struggles to put shoes on the child's feet. The adult must hold the footwear open, hold the tongue out of the way, and guide the reluctant foot into the footwear without hurting the child—difficult actions on a squirming child.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate, however, that children represent but one segment of a larger population that find the operation of convention footwear closure systems frustrating. People with limited leg mobility or other physical limitations, people with Alzheimer's disease or other mental infirmities and the like may require assistance in working the closure system of conventional footwear to don and doff such footwear.